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As so often happens in D.C. the power to stand in the way of President Trump's agenda, which was supported overwhelmingly in November's election, is coming from an unelected liberal appointee. Worse, Senate Majority Leader Thune is doing anything to prevent it.
On Thursday, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough struck down several key features of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful bill,” which included defunding of Medicaid for illegal aliens and defunding “gender-affirming care” under Medicaid and CHIP. She did it citing the "Byrd Rule."
The Byrd Rule makes it so that every line of a reconciliation package must have a direct and substantive impact on federal spending or revenues. Provisions that serve primarily policy goals—rather than budgetary ones—are subject to elimination by a parliamentary maneuver known as a point of order. Whether a point of order applies is subject to the decision of an unelected bureaucrat.
Here are the four key items MacDonough rejected:
- The federal government defunding sanctuary cities
- Defunding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (DOGE targeted this agency)
- The EPA’s effort to roll back Electric Vehicle mandates
- A proposal to restrict federal courts from issuing nationwide injunctions
MacDonough was appointed by Harry Reid in 2012.
Senate Republicans do NOT have to abide by MacDonough's ruling. They can simply hold a simple majority vote to establish a new precedent to expand the scope of what is eligible under reconciliation. They could also vote to fire MacDonough.
However, Senator Majority Leader Thune doesn't seem to have the will to do either or those.
"That (firing or overruling MacDonough) would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done,” Thune told the Washington Examiner.
